For parents looking for a guide to use in creating their own history and geography course His Story is ideal. It consists of 20 pages of which about 60% are outlines and is three hole punched and ready to go into your notebook. At first glance it appears overly simple, but actually the author has saved homeschool mothers dozens of hours of foot work by presenting the key points of history in an organized fashion. For example United States history is presented on two levels. The level for grades 5-8 is listed on 2 pages and includes the 36 topics that should be known by children (nicely corresponding with a 36 week school year). Each topic includes a few words describing it and occasionally mentions Catholic facts or people that should brought into the study. For example topic 35 in United States History is "Civil Rights Movement; Catechism 1929-1935". The author also has the material that should be mastered by 5th and 6th graders in bold print to differentiate it from material that should be studied in greater depth in 7th and 8th grade. (The program covers grades 4-8).
Along with the listings the author spends time explaining how to use the outlines and what might be expected from children at different ages. His Story is most well suited for families who like to use thematic or unit studies or who want to use books that they have in their own personal libraries for teaching history and who are creative enough to pull it all together.
love2learn.net
